Most of dog pack eliminated, authorities say

FRENCH CAMP - Authorities aren't sure if they have completely eradicated a pack of wild dogs that killed hundreds of goats in French Camp, but they believe they have eliminated some of them, said Deputy Les Garcia, a spokesman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.

FRENCH CAMP - Authorities aren't sure if they have completely eradicated a pack of wild dogs that killed hundreds of goats in French Camp, but they believe they have eliminated some of them, said Deputy Les Garcia, a spokesman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's deputies and animal control officers have captured or killed 10 stray dogs in south Stockton and French Camp over the past week. Each of the dogs was located near the area where a pack of six to 10 dogs - described as pit bulls, German shepherds and possibly a coyote - slaughtered at least 240 goats and several chickens in six different attacks, authorities and witnesses said.

"We can't be certain that we've found them all, so we're continuing to search, setting traps and patrolling the area," Garcia said. "We haven't had any additional attacks that I'm aware of, so hopefully our efforts have addressed the problem, but we're going to continue to make sure that the citizenry is safe."

Deputies shot a pit bull last Wednesday near Little John Creek and killed another Friday after it attacked chickens on Dudley Road and ran into an industrial park near Stockton Metropolitan Airport, Garcia said. Since then, authorities have captured eight more dogs, including three pit bulls, one pit bull mix and two German shepherd mixes, Garcia said.

Seven of the dogs were captured at the south end of Turnpike Road. Six were captured in cages, one was tranquilized and one was caught with a snare, Garcia said.

"Obviously, our first thought was that we were going to go out and capture these animals," Garcia said. "Unfortunately, there were a couple of situations where we had to shoot two pit bulls because one was advancing toward a deputy and the second was running into a populated industrial area."